Preparing for college is not only daunting but expensive, but it doesn't have to be.…
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A lot of manufacturers and other stores give nice discounts to students when you shop at their stores, but if you're willing to make a concession or two (sometimes), you can get much steeper discounts direct from your university. Standardtune explains:

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I can only speak for Valdosta State University, but I picked up Logic Studio yesterday for $150—that's $350 off the normal price. The only catch is that it's an "academic" version. It still has all of the features of the regular version, it just isn't upgradable. Still, even if Apple releases another version this year and I want to upgrade, I still come out about $200 cheaper than paying Apple.com's price for one of them (assuming the tech shop will have the new version for $150). They also have Final Cut Pro for $300 and nice discounts on the express versions.

I can back this up at my alma matter as well, and it works for hardware, too. Take a 13" MacBook Pro, for example. At Apple.com, you can punch in your college and get a nice $168 discount, but buying that same model from the University of Michigan's Computer Showcase gets you an extra $50 off Apple's discounted price. Furthermore, the University offers a package of computing essentials to first-years, including Microsoft Office, a laptop sleeve, an 8 GB flash drive, a 4-port USB hub, Ethernet cable, and a security lock, adding even more value to the overall package. You have a bit less leeway as far as customization goes, but they still have a pretty wide range of models available.

And, of course, you still have the deep software discounts there. We had the same prices as Standardtune mentioned, though my personal favorite discount is an upgrade version of Windows 7 Ultimate for a mere $20—a deal made directly between Microsoft and the university, so you can't get it at Microsoft's page or on Amazon. You have to actually go to your university and find the campus computer store. It's worth a shot if you're looking for some discounts. Have you found your school has the same advantages? Share with us in the comments. Photo by Millerz.